Tee Hee Hee.. These dioramas of little people on giant produce reminds me of the book Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Not the movie, people, the children’s book. Go to a library, for heavens’ sake.

Homemade Pop Tarts… I mean, come on now. As if I’m not going to make these.

How Does Your Garden Grow?… Fruits and vegetables that grow easily even in small apartment gardens. This still doesn’t fulfill my dream of growing bananas and whole apple pies on a tree right in my own backyard, but it’s s start.

I Can Haz Cheezburger Candle?… Apparently it’s National Cheeseburger Month. I celebrated accordingly at a BBQ on Wednesday night. I won’t be celebrating by purchasing this cheeseburger candle from Whitecastle, but perhaps you will.

Has LOST Lost Its Meaning?… If you watched LOST you were probably as upset as the Roommate and I over the last episode. Flavorwire examines how the show may be unraveling the culturally diverse web of characters it’s been weaving over the past six seasons. It’s a shame.

Ten Sexiest Chefs… I am so delighted that Julia Child made this list. She mixes talent and success with a big KA-POW of awesome. You wish you could make butter look that good.

Earth-Friendly Travel… GOOD gives you a handful of simple ways to be kind to Mother Nature on your next trip. Earth Day should be every day.

I am Loving Flavorwire’s List of 7 Influential Women in Pop Culture… And not just because Tina Fey (!!) shows up at number 7. I could do without Courtney Love, but overall, thumbs up to Flavorwire for the selection.

Are You A Hangry Pants and A Smarty Pants?… Food made into flags. Cheese and grapes make up the French flag; Greek olives and feta show off Greece’s color. Such a clever idea! Unfortunately it seems I need to work on my geography. And I’m also craving some cheese (see below).

Blog-Friendly Photographing… The lovely ladies at Our Best Bites offer some insight into how they get their photos so gosh-darn good looking. They are so crisp sometimes I am tempted to lick the screen.

Speaking of Food Blogs… Travel, Eat, Love is giving away a whole box of cheese. A box. Of cheese. From Cabot. Box. Cheese. Cabot. Ya dig?

Bring on the weekend.

If I Had One of These I Could Look For it on the List… The Best Jobs in America. Some of us may want to consider a career change.

Would You Like Fries on Your Special Day?… Weddings that took place in fast food restaurants and popular chains.  After reading this I have a sinking feeling the Boyfriend is going to want to get married in an Arby’s.

Exercising Has Even More Benefits Than You Think… My friend posted this NYT article and I think it’s great.  Fitness is not just for the hardcore body builder.

You Know Where to Find Me This Weekend… So this is a bit of a local link, but All Over Albany joyously announced that it IS indeed soft ice cream season again.  Hallelujah!

Don’t forget that daylight savings is this weekend: spring forward!

Don’t Talk With Your Mouth Full… But after you’re done chewing, make sure you’re pronouncing these foodie words right.

Not cool, Oscars… Did you know that the Best Director honor has never gone to a woman or an African American? I’m officially cheering for Kathryn Bigelow or Lee Daniels. Read on for more disappointing Academy Awards trivia.

Clean Your Fridge!… I’ll be the first to admit it, I do not clean my fridge. Occasionally the Boyfriend will go on a cleaning rampage and sanitize everything within reach, including the fridge (and the garbage can! There’s another disgusting container I avoid thinking about…). But I DO go through the fridge once a week and check on the status of take-out boxes and containers of leftovers, inspect the dates of crusty jars and condiments, and take stock of the contents of our fridge. It’s a time- and health-saver.

If You’re the Traveling, Drinking Sort… Here’s a list of the 25 best cities in which to drink wine. For those of us with small (nonexistent?) travel budgets, I like the advice they give to train your taste-buds at home: “Take time to train your palate by starting with a single varietal, maybe a Merlot, and stick with it for a while. Then add another — perhaps a Pinot — and try that for a couple weeks. Soon, you’ll be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test. When you’re ready, try adding a Cabernet to the mix, but don’t push this one. And, when you visit other cities, add a new wine to your wine repertoire. As years go by, when you taste that varietal, it can take you right back to your special trip.” Good advice. And for the beer drinkers, here are some cities you’d be wise to visit.

7 ways to nap at work… Enough said. Enjoy your Friday.

I have no problem with this.  Carry on, Lunch Break.

GOOP-y… This writer tries Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP cleanse on for size.  I like reading about these crazy cleanses. It constantly reminds me not to try them.

Bottles That Don’t Break the Bank.. TheKitchn reviews ten whites and reds that sell for under ten bucks.  Handy if you’re the sort who gets invited to dinner parties.

Locally Grown and Delivered… I love this concept.  This company delivers boxes of locally grown produce.  Each week a box of farm fresh fruits and vegetables shows up at your door.  Takes the guesswork out of finding a local farmers market (and, frankly, it’s a royal pain waking up early on Saturday).  Uncommon Grounds, purveyor of delicious coffee and bagels and provider of my lunch yesterday afternoon, interviewed owner Kirk Childress yesterday on the blog.

Oscar Categories of Yesteryear… I think they should still give out awards for Best Stunt Coordination. Stunts are nuts. In a cool, how-did-they-DO-that sort of way.

You Eat Pretzels, But Do You Know Where the Word Comes From?… Mental_floss give you 10 words; can you name their language of origin? A quick afternoon quizzle.

These ARE your mother’s cooking tips… But mother knows best. Check out #12: “Peel onions under water and they will not irritate the eyes.” Future sobfests over the cutting board averted!

Ten Reasons to Twitter… I’ve been slow to jump on the Twitter bandwagon. I freak out about having more than 140 characters-worth to say; I was an English major and we can’t comprehend mushing names and titles into one-word monikers with no capital letters; I’d rather be on Facebook… you know. But kids these days are all about the tweetin’ and the taggin’ so here I go. To ease myself in (and because everything is better when there is food involved!), I’m following these foodies. Thanks to Paste for the list. I think we all know I’m particularly excited about @theliquorsnob. Twitter is way more fun after a cocktail.

Someone Should Have Signed Me Up For This… 30 days, 30 bloggers, 30 macaroni and cheese recipes. O. M. and G. I quite fancy this one.

Tears of Onion-y Joy… Tutorial video on how to dice an onion. Grab your knife, stick a Kleenex in your pocket, and get to it! And while we’re at it, let’s practice our garlic mincing skills.

Apparently You’re Supposed to Smell the Wine, Too… Another article from TheKitchn. Useful tips on how to properly taste wine. You know, if you’re out with those friends tonight.

This Gave Me A Good Laugh… Hipster puppies. Scarf-clad puppies getting their alternative on. Snide captions included.

Sweet Eats … Nothing says “I heart you this Valentines Day” like heart-shaped food. Watermelons, pasta, and polenta can all be shaped into hearts for your one true love — who knew?

These People Disagree on the Heart-Shaped Pizza Front, However… MyBadPad.com has a list of what NOT to give her on V-Day. I’m not agreeing that all of these are bad. If The Boyfriend rented a billboard on which to proclaim his never-ending love for me, I’d be cool with it.

In short, we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled programming next week (read: I will reform my negative attitude and start cooking again!). But while I have nothing interesting to add to the contents of the World Wide Web, it doesn’t mean these people don’t:

Back When All They Had Was an Easy Bake Oven and a Dream… check out some of your favorite food network chefs when they were young.

In honor of Howard Zinn and J.D. Salinger, let’s crack open a book!… To help you along, I give you literary choices from your favorite comedians.  Because, let’s face it, Tina Fey, Jane Lynch, and Stephen Colbert didn’t become sharp and witty faces of comedy by watching American Idol reruns.

Fancy Food… Mental_floss describes the recent Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco as “Comic-Con for foodies.”  “The enormous event highlights just about anything you could put in your mouth.”  I will spare you the That’s What She Said joke (too late?) and encourage you to check out the highlights from the show.  Personally, I am interested in the Fartless Chili.

This Is A Public Service Announcement… Hulu now has every single episode of LOST.  For free.  Oh, yes.

Lego-Chic… This Lego-covered kitchen island is very fun and bright.  I want.

from TheKitchn.com

Am I the only one who thinks this is a genius idea? Granted, my teeny tiny kitchen has a lot of storage space.  But I have a lot of necessary kitchen tools.  A lot.

Not Quite a Prius… “Hybrids” found in mother nature.

Our President is so rad… To round off your ‘09 lists, here are Obama’s best fist-bumps from the year.

And another list… from TheKitchn.com, 40 tips and tricks for the kitchen, from “How To Make Soup Out of Anything” to “Five Simple Tips for Plating Food.”

Alternatives to the ‘nog-tini… Health.com has 12 low-calorie drinks to make the holidays a little more fun.

It’s Still Egg Nog Season… All Over Albany ’s taste testers get to work on this holiday favorite.

Christmas Cheer… Albany has a lot of love in it’s little ol’ heart.  This story is really moving.